Jumeirah Islands profiles Dh10 million-plus deals in 3 years, becomes Dubai millionaires’ new flashpoint

Jumeirah Islands has emerged as another preferred destination for the upper crust selecting Dubai as their residential destination, this is in addition to Emirates Hills, Jumeirah Bay Island, and Palm Jumeirah.

Knight Frank, a global consultant in real estate, said the total number of transactions with a value over Dh10 million in the past three years shows that the Islands can maintain their value and become one of the most desirable areas in the neighbourhood.

The largest of the man-made island cluster sales was a 4-BR with 5,500 sq ft in late December 2023 for Dh28m or Dh5,111 per sq ft of space. In the last 12 months, 97 houses have transacted in Jumeirah Islands and they are valued at about Dh1 bn.

The need for this distinction was underlined by Will McKintosh, the Knight Frank regional partner and head of residential for Mena. “A rising list of prime residential areas definitely points towards a maturity that is setting in and it will not be very long before other areas like Tilal Al Ghaf, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Al Barari and/or Blue Waters shift to become prime locations,” he noted.

With this observation, the available homes on Jumeirah Islands for sale reduced by 28 per cent within the last 12 months, standing at 279 homes, corroboration to the 44 per cent reduction in the prime home listings in the city to about 4900 units according to Faisal Durrani, partner and head of research for Mena at Knight Frank.

He said that not only are the buyers willing to pay record prices to buy property in the Islands but they are also willing to spend almost the same amount for the renovation of the property, which points more towards the long-term buy-and-hold or buy-and-live strategy that has been prevalent in the market over the past four years.

According to Shehzad Jamal – Knight Frank’s partner for strategy and consultancy for MEA, the desire to own a villa in Dubai increases with the net worth levels; whereas 30 per cent of those with a net worth of $2-$5 million desire to own a villa in the city, 48 per cent of those with a net worth of more than $15 million feel the same. This rise goes even higher to 59% among international affluent millionaires with a net worth more than $20 million.